The present invention relates generally to stretchable knitted articles and particularly to such articles having a terry loop construction and to the printing of designs thereon.
The printing of designs on stretchable knitted textile fabrics and articles formed therewith is conventionally considered to be undesirable in that the desired design must ordinarily be printed on the fabric in its unstretched condition and will not retain its definition and continuity of appearance when stretched in ordinary use. This problem is especiallly acute if the fabric to be printed is of a terry loop construction, since it is difficult to apply a clearly defined printed design to this type of fabric even when unstretched. Accordingly, it is conventional wisdom in the knitted textile printing art that designs in stretchable knits, particularly terry knits, must be achieved by techniques other than printing, such as other fabric dyeing processes or by pattern knitting using differently colored yarns, all of which are significantly more expensive than printing. Thus, traditionally, only the costlier stretchable knit fabrics and articles produced therefrom which justify such more expensive techniques have been manufactured in patterns or designs, with other stretchable knit fabrics and articles usually being manufactured only in solid colors.
In contrast, the present invention provides a stretchable knitted article of wearing apparel of a particular combination and arrangement of terry knit and plain knit regions which facilitate the inexpensive printing of designs on the plain knit region which designs will maintain their definition and continuity of appearance in both the stretched and unstretched conditions of the article.